This article was originally published in the November/December 2022 issue of WatchTime print magazine. Photos by Jens Köppe, Roger Ruegger and Breitling.
He did it again. Georges Kern, Breitling’s The influential CEO has relaunched another important watch line based on his “Modern Retro” design concept. The brief was the same as for the Superocean Heritage, Premier and Chronomat: take a historic Breitling model and design a new watch on it, but not an exact copy. Rather, the essential components are carefully selected, brought together in a modern format and combined with other elements to meet today’s demands for style and comfort. The result is usually an attractive new watch that is offered in a variety of versions.
Kern has been very successful with this approach so far. He has turned the once clearly positioned pilot’s watch brand into a lifestyle brand that feels at home in the air, but also on land and water, and exploits the full potential of its rich history. Breitling watches are attractive and desirable. And by combining the informal, sporty brand image with a cool boutique concept, Breitling has flourished since being taken over by the financial investor CVC in 2017.
The numbers prove it. CVC paid around 800 million euros for an 80 percent stake, and in autumn 2021 Breitling was valued at an estimated 3 billion euros. At that time, Partners Group, another investment company, bought around 25 percent of Breitling for allegedly three quarters of a billion euros.
Breitling is booming, and Georges Kern can boast a number of successes. Nevertheless, you sometimes wonder how long the brand will continue to benefit from this. All of Breitling’s rough edges are gradually disappearing, striking models such as the Navitimer or the Chronomat now appear wider or, like the Emergency with a diameter of 51 mm and emergency signal function, are only found on the fringes of the collection. The rough edges apply in the truest sense of the word to the Chronomat, whose screwed bezel tabs no longer catch on sweaters and tear, but which no one talks about anymore. And finally the new Navitimer – it comes in a really attractive range of colors and case sizes, including three-hand watches and women’s models. While there is something for many tastes, it dilutes the iconic pilot’s watch design with the black dial and three white sub-dials.
Kern and his team also followed the Modern Retro principle when designing the Super OceanHere, too, a specific historical model served as the basis for the new collection. But one thing is different from the other examples mentioned above: the new Superocean doesn’t just look good. It has a polarizing detail – its distinctive minute hand. It is much thinner than the hour hand and also has a large square inlay. This alone sets it apart from others. But because the minute hand is narrow and tapers towards the end, and because the square is quite far from the center, it appears a bit top-heavy. This creates a clear contrast that can be perceived as either exciting or repulsive, depending on the viewer’s personal opinion. The hand conveys a feeling of heaviness that doesn’t look particularly good for a sports watch. But that’s not the whole story.
The historic prototype of the new Superocean is one of the lesser-known models in Breitling’s past. The inspiration for the 2022 edition did not come from the first Superocean from 1957, but from a model introduced in the 1960s: a chronograph called Slow Motion. Even then, several versions of this model were available. The one we are interested in is dominated by a distinctive hand that looks identical to the minute hand of the new model. The difference, of course, is that back then it was a centrally mounted chronograph minute counter. This meant that the diver could simply start the chronograph to measure the time spent underwater and then read the minute track. The rotating bezel even made it possible to register a second time interval. What was special about this watch was that it did not have a centrally mounted seconds hand, but only a small seconds sub-dial at 9 o’clock. The central counter hand moved 60 times slower than a seconds counter, hence the name Slow Motion. This slow movement of the counter hand posed a risk to divers, who could not tell at first glance whether the chronograph was even running. Breitling compensated for this by installing a function indicator at 6 o’clock that glowed green when the chronograph was running and black with a green dot when the chronograph was stopped and reset.
This idea was complicated and did not last long. But the design with the striking hand, which takes up the look of the block-shaped hour markers, inspired Georges Kern and his team and served as the basis for the new Superocean. However, this model is not a chronograph, but a three-hand watch with a centrally positioned second hand. The striking hand with the square insert is now the minute hand, and the diving time is measured as usual via the rotating bezel. The function display and small second have disappeared.
The new watch is characterized by three key design elements: the distinctive minute hand, the block-shaped hour markers and the wide white inner rim. The markers are now made of applied metal with beveled edges and luminous filling and appear significantly more high-quality than on the previous model. The inner rim connects the dial and bezel and is a unifying feature of all Superocean models – regardless of whether they measure 36, 42, 44 or 46 mm in diameter.
The new Superocean no longer has much in common with its predecessor. Its design is more consistently geared towards diving, with everything focused on the unusual minute hand. However, because the square is quite far away from the minute marking on the bezel, legibility when diving is not improved. The three large Arabic numerals for 6, 9 and 12 o’clock have been removed, and the winged logo and anchor have also been dispensed with in favor of the former Breitling signature “B”. The historical wave text “SuperOcean” that could also be found on the Slow Motion remains. Unfortunately, the water resistance has been reduced again. While the previous model was “only” waterproof to a depth of 500 meters (the immediate predecessor offered 1,500 meters), the watch now only guarantees 300 meters. However, its design benefits from the loss, as the Superocean is now thinner, its height is 12.56 mm instead of 13.3 mm.
The Superocean is available in the four sizes mentioned and also in many colors, which makes more sense for a diving watch than a pilot’s watch. For our test, we chose a 42 mm model, the Superocean Automatic 42 Kelly Slater Limited Edition, which is limited to 1,000 pieces. Kelly Slater is a well-known American professional surfer who has been associated with stars such as Pamela Anderson, Gisele Bündchen and Cameron Diaz and is now a brand ambassador and part of the Breitling Surfer Squad. Slater chose the color combination of an orange dial and a green rubber strap and wearing the watch showed that this combination had a similar polarizing effect to the minute hand. The reactions ranged from open disdain to unconditional enthusiasm.
Even though Kelly Slater is a surfer, we wanted to take a closer look at the diving watch elements of the Superocean. We took a closer look ourselves and tested the watch with two professional divers in an underwater cave in Germany. The Superocean did not have to prove itself at great depths. This test was more about ease of use, comfort and readability. Our divers consistently praised the readability. Even in the darkest corners, the orange color of the dial was easy to see and the size and brightness of the Super-Lumi-Nova coated markings and hands as well as the bezel markings, which are also coated with luminous material, made a good impression. The scratch-resistant ceramic bezel insert proved to be advantageous in tight spaces. And with the diving extension in the folding clasp, which can be extended in several stages up to 15 mm, the divers could easily put the watch on over neoprene gloves. Turning the bezel was no problem even with gloves. However, the extension was not sufficient for use with dry gloves. And in one situation the shutter opened by itself, which should never have happened.
On land and on the Witschi timegrapher, the Superocean demonstrated its qualities as a certified chronometer with a deviation in the range of -4 and +4 seconds in the six positions within a 24-hour period. The Breitling Caliber 17, which is no longer based on the ETA 2824 but now on the almost identical Sellita SW200, remained within the chronometer standard.
The price is less understandable, even in times of high inflation. In contrast to the previous model, which also had a stainless steel case and a rubber strap, the new model costs around $1,000 more despite reduced water resistance and no in-house movement.
Conclusion: The Superocean is an attractive, well-designed and high-quality diving watch. Georges Kern’s Modern Retro program is a success by adapting a historical design to current requirements, which works well in many sizes and colors. Interested customers will easily find a model that suits their taste and preferences. In contrast to the new Navitimer, which perhaps appeals to too broad an audience, one detail here – the striking minute hand – polarizes and makes the watch even more interesting. The Superocean was never an icon and will not become one now, simply because its appearance has changed over time. It will be exciting to see how it develops in the next relaunch in a few years. Perhaps by then Georges Kern will have found a completely different basis for a Modern Retro design in the Breitling archives.
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